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Comment by justinko | Hacker News Reader

Up to 30% of people may have sleep apnea. I recommend everyone to get at least an at-home sleep test. In-lab is much more difficult to get insurance to cover, but you could pay $1,500+ out-of-pocket.

It is a horrendous condition that will ruin your life.

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If you don't have insurance, you can get a cheap data-logging SpO2 meter off Amazon for like $150. You can even set it to sound an alarm if your SpO2 drops too low.

Apnea is serious though. It hit me when I was relatively fit at 43 and took a chunk of my youth with it. Ever since, I have more of an "old man" brain(like getting overwhelmed by stimulus, especially when driving). I've been on CPAP for over 2 years and my apnea is well controlled, but some things just don't seem to come back.

14 months of PAP therapy for me. I was diagnosed with severe SA (40+ events per minute).

Sp02 is useful, but mainly to ensure you're not dipping in o2 from leaks, bad fit, incorrect pressure, etc. It is not a diagnostic tool.

A sleep study can pick up things like restless leg syndrome, central vs obstructive sleep apneas, RERA's, etc.

Regarding the "brain fog" - I know exactly what you're talking about. I've improved mine significantly via:

- Getting extensive blood tests to find any deficiencies. Turns out, I was deficient in vitamin D (really bad) and testosterone (which is produced during high quality REM stage, I believe). - Taking a boat load of supplements. L-Tyrosine, NAC, too many to list.

Sometimes PAP therapy doesn't fix endocrine issues like testosterone. Going on TRT has been a game changer for both mental and physical improvement.

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